Remembrance Day – Including finger knitted Poppy tutorial

Remembrance day – 11th November.

With young children I think this is a hard area to cover – but also a very important area to cover. To try encourage appreciation in a very spoilt generation is difficult.

Where the Poppies now Grow

I will be sharing a beautiful book that I have come across with Freya and Seb – Where The Poppies Now Grow #affiliate – this beautifully illustrated book by Hilary Robinson gently introduces children to the idea of the Wars and what people went through. It ends showing how we commemorate the wars today.

Photo fact cards

I have made some Photo fact cards to share with Freya and Seb too – these show images related to war – both Modern and World war 1. Images of soldiers and vehicles to promote discussion. They are of course available as a free download for you to share with whom ever you want!

Two minute Silence

Last year in our class of 3 and 4 year olds we did commemorate the war heroes with a silence. We sat in a circle just before 11 and talked about what we had been looking at that morning (making poppies (I used black buttons for the center), poppy prints (we used half and apple to print red onto black paper. Then a potato print with black for the center), photo cards). I also have my Grandfathers war medals that I share with them.

As 11 O’clock arrived I played Nimrod for 2 minutes (I have found a great guide to classic music for Remembrance on Classic FM’s website.) The children sat beautifully – it was such a wonderful moment. The music mad them calm and focussed – it was one of my teaching highlights of last year 🙂

Finger knitting Poppy

I really want to try crocheting a poppy – I have seen some lovely examples all over the place this year, on TV, in magazines. I found some great ideas on my Remembrance Day Pinterest board. Unfortunately I haven’t found the time (too much blogging!). I also wanted to try and do something with Freya. I have wanted to try finger knitting for a while now so I thought this is the perfect time. We will of course be making a donation to the Poppy appeal as well but this seems a nice way to make something personal.

Here is how you can donate by text – Simple!

To donate £3 text POPPY to 70020*
*Cost £3 plus standard network charges (typically £2.97 goes to the Poppy Appeal).

To donate £10, text POPPY to 70111*
*Cost £10 plus standard network charges (typically £9.92 goes to the Poppy Appeal)

We used:

some red wool (we found some really cheaply in Poundland this weekend – 3 balls for £2!)
a black button
Large needle
Safety pin

To start with you need to finger knit about 25 cm – I told Freya that it needed to reach her elbow which gave her a good target.

If you already know how to finger knit you might want to jump to the photos that show the finished finger knit ‘snake’, as we call it.

First lay some red wool across your hand starting with the tail (end) between the thumb and index finger.

Now weave the other end (that is attached to the ball). Start going behind the little finger and then weave to the index finger.

Now go round the index finger and weave back to the little finger.

Next, one big loop round the back of your fingers and then lay the wool above on your fingers.

On your little finger. Pull the bottom loop up and over the top and off your finger.

Repeat on the Ring finger.

When you have done this on every finger there is just one row again.

Loop the wool behind the little finger and round again. Now pull the bottom row over the top again.

After you have done several rounds, take the piece of wool that is across the palm of your hand and follow it round to the back of your hand. Give it a gentle pull and you will see your ‘snake’ growing.

Freya has now made the snake so it reaches her elbow. We cut the wool so the snake is no longer attached to the ball.

Now we need to cast off. You should have just one row of wool on your hand now.

Take the wool off your little finger and then put the loop on to your ring finger.

Working on your ring finger now take the bottom row and pass it over the top. This should leave just one piece of wool on the ring finger.

Take the wool loop from your ring finger and put it on your middle finger.

Pull the bottom pice over the top again. Then move the loop from the middle finger on to the index finger.

When you have loope the bottom piece of wool over the top on your index finger you should be able to pull the end through and then it will be tied off leaving your with finger knitted ‘snake’.

We chose to make a poppy with three petals. To do this fold the ‘snake’ in half – then make it a triangle with the two ends meeting at the middle of the bottom of the triangle.

Thread one end of the wool onto a needle (you could probably do this with out but it is easier for a child to use a needle.) Now poke the needle in 2/3rds of the way in to stitch end in.

Go back on te loop you have created and half way in stitch to bring it in to the middle.

Now take both ends and tie them together in a know. The finger knitting should now form a 3 petal poppy.

Now take a black button and sew it in to the middle using the needle.

Once the button is attached turn the poppy upside down and tie the ends together with a secure know. (We used a reef know)

And know you have a poppy. If you want to wear it as a broach you could add a safety pin. Freya wants to wear it in her hair tomorrow – look out on Instagram for a photo.

Please find more ideas on Remembrance Day Pinterest board.

We shall remember them.